I watch a lot of tele. whilst I knit and crochet. And as you may have already deduced, I love anything involving Sherlock Holmes. I’ve enjoyed many of the film versions including Holmes played by Basil Rathbone, Jeremy Brett and my current weekly date with Jonny Lee Miller on “Elementary” (although I am equally excited to see Lucy Liu as Dr. Watson in that case). Well, while I was working away to create a fun one-skien wonder to inspire my crochet students and fans alike, I was watching the newest BBC rendition of Holmes, simply called “Sherlock“. I am smitten, again. Somehow the creators of this version kept a visually Victorian vibe in the show, while completely updating the stories and characters to 21st Century London. The characters are wonderfully authentic, recognizable from the original, yet fit seamlessly into a modern universe of internet searches, blogs (yeah!) and modern-day science. I love both Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman as Holmes and Watson. Really well done! We flew through two seasons in a few nights, loving every minute.

Interestingly, this blend of classic, intricate, old world texture, with contemporary, fun and colorful interpretation is exactly what I gravitate toward in my own designs. I feel like I was really inspired in this particular design by the show, and specifically by the beguiling character of Miss Irene Adler.

Miss Adler’s Cowl is a quick and easy crochet eyelet cowl finished with a fanciful ribbon to snug it in and keep the cold from sneaking in under your chin. It takes just one skein of DK yarn – in this case, Malabrigo Silky-Merino in “Archangel”. See, I told you I would be turning those cakes into cozies! With luck, the pattern will be ready to launch March 9th for my Spring Trunk Show at Knit New Haven.

So, hats off to Sherlock for helping me see my work in a new way, and keeping me entertained as I knit and crochet through the nights!

What have you been watching whilst stitching? Drop me a note in the comments, I’d love to hear from you!

So, how has everyone been out there? I had some lovely vacation time in Florida visiting family, then came back to the late August back-to-school rush, and now I’m finally catchin’ up and – Oh My! It’s almost September!!!

So, the first thing I am super excited to share is that I’m teaching “Crochet 101” at Knit New Haven on September 22nd! I am really happy to be able to share the crochet love, and Knit New Haven’s excellent selection of yarns with all my fellow nutmeg crafters. I finished up a class project sample yesterday and it will be at the shop throughout the month if you’d like to see it in person, and sign up for the class! All of the details are over at KnitNewHaven.com. Here is a pic of me in the “Cory Cat Cowl“:

I decided to go with the mobius form to add just a little “twist” to the usual beginner project scarf. I love cowls because they stay put when wrapped up and keep me nice and warm. The mobius design means once you get this project off the ground you are working a continuous edge, so no turns or joins – just keep on stitchin’.

In addition, the lovely hand-dyed Qolla yarn from Misti Alpaca is blended beautifully by the stitch pattern, and really draped nicely when finished. The colorway is called “Evita”, but I nicknamed my project “Cory Cat” after my sweet little Corydorus Catfish who looks just like this! This version was done in 3-4 hours, and used all of my skein of worsted weight yarn (218 yards). If you are a beginner, once you get going, you will easily get the satisfaction of reaching the end pretty quickly. If you are experienced with the hook, I would highly recommend this as a last-minute gift item. It can really seem sophisticated and shine with hand dyed yarns, and yet it can literally be done in a jiffy! I think I might crank out a few for gifts this year myself.

This is actually the second crochet mobius I’ve made. The first one was my “Monet Cowl” which helped me stash bust my Malabrigo Silky Merino that was languishing on my shelf. I used a smaller hook, and it is a touch shorter overall. The silk content really made it drape nicely, and it feels light and elegant on. I think this DK version is better for spring though.

In any case, it’s a flexible fun idea, and I look forward to sharing this with my upcoming class!

Now, organizing my stash has been tedious at times. Some of my wool was in tough shape. When I moved a few years back I stored my stash in boxes without benefit of moth or moisture protection and much of it suffered when it didn’t get unpacked for the first couple of years. Over time, I have moth balled, steamed, skeined and soaked about half of this yarn. Even non-wool items couldn’t join my studio stash until they had been thoroughly treated to prevent the mildew smell from spreading.

Even Lil One recently joined in on the effort, and a couple of weeks ago witnessed her Mom laboring over a beloved but bedraggled skein of gold Harrisville Shetland yarn. She loves yarn, so she offered to spin the swift… before getting distracted by bubble blowing duties 😉 .

I began trying to skein this wool yarn only to realize my “golden treasure” was in many pieces (about 25-30 ish). I thought, “Oh no! What now?” I had a yarn fantasy all set – the triple strand knit, the sophisticated sideways glances as I walked along through crisp fall leaves in my elegant little snood. Well, I’d just have to “make it work”! I began felting the pieces back together, and carefully winding them onto my swift yard by yard… Several hours later, and a “How much could it cost for a new skein?” from an “outsider”, I had re-assembled the skein. I know, slightly insane, but I can’t bear to give up on my favorite stashed yarns! Here is the pile midway through:

So, this was all for a “use up some old stash” project. I have a whole lotta yarn to knit up to trim my fat stash back down to size, so a multi-strand invention seemed just the ticket. I was inspired by Yarnia and Fig Knits blog week post involving mohair, to combine this “rescue yarn” with two other leftovers, Stacy Charles “Ritratto” and a Hand-Dyed 2/14 Alpaca-Silk from Valley Yarns (Webs). Here they are separately:

And here is the resulting mixed yarn ball:

And then, after all that, I was able to knit up my Eyelet Cowl with what amounts to a worsted weight yarn. It was kind of magical how several small amounts became a couple of nice healthy balls of yarn. I found the Cathy Carron pattern pretty straight forward, but I modified it a little by adding two extra knit rounds to each repeat. It knit up springy and wonderful, and the resulting fabric has a real Victorian feel to it. I finished it off with a nice velvet ribbon rather than the i-cord to really up the vintage feel. Ta-dah!!

I know, where’s the modeled photo? Well, this is a super cozy winter knit. Please! You could not pay me to pretend it’s cold in this August heat! I promise to show it off properly when the weather turns cool again.

So, this was a little crazy, even for me. In the end, I love it even more because it was so involved.

What lengths have you gone to for a lovely yarn?

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All content in my blog is part of my creative and artistic efforts. Please ask before borrowing content, usually I am happy to share. In general, content, including photos, patterns and written material: Copyright 2012, Crystal Guistinello, all rights reserved. Furthermore, patterns are for personal use only and you may not edit, publish, copy or commercially exploit the patterns in any way.